Nyack, Piermont Residents Named Merit Scholars In Second Round

NYACK, NY — National Merit Scholarship Corporation announced this year’s National Merit $2500 Scholarship winners last week, the second round of this year's scholarships. One is from Nyack and one is from Piermont. The 2,500 Merit Scholar designees were chosen from a talent pool of more than 15,000 outstanding Finalists in the 2017 National Merit Scholarship Program.

The release was the second announcement of winners in the 2017 National Merit Scholarship Program. On April 19, more than 1,000 recipients of corporate-sponsored Merit Scholarship awards were named, including 12 students from the Hudson Valley.

On June 7 and July 17, some 4,000 college-sponsored Merit Scholarship winners will be announced. By the conclusion of this year’s competition, about 7,500 academic champions will have won National Merit Scholarships worth more than $32 million.

NMSC finances most of these single-payment National Merit $2500 Scholarships.

National Merit $2500 Scholarship winners are the Finalists in each state judged to have the strongest combination of accomplishments, skills, and potential for success in rigorous college studies. The number of winners named in each state is proportional to the state’s percentage of the nation’s graduating high school seniors.

These Scholars were selected by a committee of college admissions officers and high school counselors, who appraised a substantial amount of information submitted by both the Finalists and their high schools: the academic record, including difficulty level of subjects studied and grades earned; scores from two standardized tests; contributions and leadership in school and community activities; an essay written by the Finalist; and a recommendation written by a high school official.

Corporations and company foundations that sponsor awards through NMSC also help underwrite these scholarships with grants they provide in lieu of paying administrative fees. Scholars may use their awards at any regionally accredited U.S. college or university.

The local students named in this round are:

• Owen F. Friesen of Nyack. Probable career field: Public Policy. Hackley School
• Samuel I. Gould of Piermont. Probable career field: Biochemistry. Tappan Zee High School

This year’s National Merit Scholarship Program began in October 2015 when over 1.6 million juniors in more than 22,000 high schools took the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT®), which served as an initial screen of program entrants. Last fall, the highest-scoring participants in each state, representing less than one percent of the nation’s high school seniors, were named Semifinalists on a state-representational basis.

Only these 16,000 Semifinalists had an opportunity to continue in the competition.

From the Semifinalist group, some 15,000 students met the very high academic standards and other requirements to advance to the Finalist level of the competition. By the conclusion of the 2017 program, about 7,500 Finalists will have earned the “Merit Scholar” title and received a total of over $32 million in college scholarships.

ALSO SEE:

• 2017 National Merit Scholarships: 12 Local Students Named in First Round
  
• 2017 National Merit Scholarships: 43 Hudson Valley Students Named in 2nd Round
  

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